Senate fails to advance border security provisions abandoned during Ukraine aid fight

The U.S. Senate on Thursday failed to advance border security legislation from a previously abandoned pairing of the provisions with foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.

The upper chamber voted 43-50 against advancing the legislation. It would have needed 60 votes to proceed.

Negotiated by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., earlier this year, the original plan to pair the border provisions with a $95 billion aid package failed, prompting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to advance only the foreign aid portion at that time.

Democratic Sens. Cory Booker, N.J., Laphonsa Butler, Calif., and Sinema voted against the legislation, according to Politico.

Ahead of the Thursday vote, Republican lawmakers had insisted that their was little point in revisiting the border deal and that Democrats were merely seeking to bolster their incumbents by handing them an easy border vote.

“I think the whole thing is dumb,” said Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “The other side is now going to use it in a way to perhaps make some of their troubled incumbents in a better place. But they don’t really think that they can pass it. So it’s just messaging on their side.”

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.